Cancer care keeps mum close during treatment

16 Nov 2018

16 November 2018 

Aliesha was a busy 28-year-old mum of two small boys. Her youngest son was only three months old when she had a recurring stitch checked at a local GP clinic. A blood test showed a low red cell count.

“My iron reading was one, and the nurses asked if I was really tired. With a newborn and a toddler I was no more tired than anyone else in that position,” she said.

But a stool sample test raised a red flag and Aliesha was referred for a colonoscopy.

“I went back to my regular GP who sent me for a consultation with a surgeon that day,”Aliesha said.

“On 25 May I had a colonoscopy, then a CT scan next day. On 27 May my GP called to say I had bowel cancer. I had surgery at St John of God Bunbury Hospital a week after the colonoscopy, and started chemotherapy soon after.”

When Aliesha noticed further symptoms and underwent another colonoscopy late in 2015, she was subsequently diagnosed with a second primary bowel cancer.

“This was, thankfully, a lot smaller and the surgery was able to remove it without me needing chemotherapy,” she said.

Access to care close to home

The care Aliesha received was made possible by donations to the St John of God Foundation that helped establish St John of God Bunbury Hospital’s comprehensive cancer centre. Ongoing donations continue to give South West residents access to specialist cancer care close to home.

“Being able to access quality care close to home and family, particularly for people in regional Australia, can make all the difference,” St John of God Bunbury Hospital Chief Executive Officer Mark Grime said.

With a young family at home, Aliesha said this access to care was really important.

“Throughout treatment, being close to my family meant everything. My partner would come with me to chemotherapy and my mother was with me for my first treatment,” she said.

“It was a very stressful time. But being close to the boys, who were just so positive, was really great because they were always smiling."

In spite of her medical team advising prior to treatment that she may not be able to expand her family, Aliesha and her partner welcomed a baby daughter in 2017.

Ongoing care

While she is now cancer free, Aliesha continues to receive regular care at St John of God Bunbury Hospital where her medical team keeps a close eye on her health and wellbeing.

Aliesha knows she’s one of the lucky ones. Bowel cancer is Australia’s second biggest cancer killer. It’s more common as we age, but still prevalent in young adults.

“There’s a stigma around a colonoscopy because it involves your bowels. But it’s essential for early detection to give you the best chance of recovery,” she said.

“The colonoscopy is the easy part. I’d rather have 10 colonoscopies than one round of chemotherapy.”